In the history of Chinese art, there are many stories about painters and food.
Ancient Su Shi, modern Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, etc., all have an indissoluble bond with food.
Among them, the relationship between Yuan Dynasty painter Ni Zan and food is particularly special.
Ni Zan is the head of the "Four Schools of Yuan Dynasty".
The book contains about 50 recipes for dishes and pastries, one of which is unique, named after Ni Zan and called "Yunlin Goose".
Yuan Mei, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, highly praised Ni Zan's food in "Suiyuan Food List", and the dish of Yunlin Goose has spread far and wide.
Yunlin Goose, which has a history of more than 600 years, has become a classic and famous dish of Suzhou cuisine.
The modern painter Zhang Daqian is not only a recognized master of traditional Chinese painting, but also a famous gourmet.
But compared to his artistic achievements, Zhang Daqian prefers to consider himself a gourmet.
He commented on his painting skills and cooking level: "In terms of art, I am good at cooking, and I should be more than painting." For Zhang Daqian, the realm of food and art is interlinked.
In terms of artistic creation, Zhang Daqian draws on the strengths of many families.
He likes to copy the classics of his predecessors and draw on the advantages of other art categories.
This coincides with his extensive exploration of gastronomy.
Zhang Daqian traveled around the world, adopted the strengths of various cuisines, and created "Daqian Cai". It is said that each dish is delicious in taste and aroma.
Zhang Daqian has his own unique views on the characteristics of various cuisines.
He believes that China has a vast territory and rich resources, and the customs and geographical conditions are different in different parts of the country, so food and cuisine with different flavors have been formed.
Zhang Daqian divided Chinese cuisine into three genres according to the three major regions of the Yellow River Basin, the Yangtze River Basin and the Pearl River Basin. Cantonese cuisine and Fujian cuisine are formed, and the flavor is taken from the sea; while the Yangtze River basin runs from Chengdu, Chongqing to the south of the Yangtze River, forming Sichuan cuisine, Yangzhou cuisine, Suzhou cuisine, and the flavor is taken from both land and water.
Zhang Daqian also has many works related to diet.
In the 1978 painting "Vegetable Root Fragrant", the objects presented are the vegetables on the daily table of ordinary people, such as radishes, cabbage, mushrooms, eggplants, winter melons, etc.
From the material, it can be seen that the food is green and fresh, as if it has just been picked from the vegetable field.
Next to the picture is inscribed a piece of Shi Tao's Seven Wonders: "A cold life is a Confucianism, a poor family is anorexia and no fish. Don't cook vegetable roots in oil, and leave some green lights to teach children." Here, crisp cabbage and fresh vegetable roots , is endowed with a special spiritual character by the artist.
Zhang Daqian loves fruit and vegetable ingredients in his paintings, and there are more than one works named after "Vegetable Root Fragrance". There are also works of the same name created in 1968 and 1979.
What is interesting is that the painters not only love fruits and vegetables, but also the names of their paintings.
"If you bite the root of vegetables, Pepsi can do it." This traditional Confucian classic teaching can be said to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
This is also one of the few Confucian philosophies that are suitable for painters to express through painting.
Qi Baishi loved to paint cabbage all his life. He often used green cabbage to harmonize the sound of "innocence", and bamboo shoots to harmonize the sound of "vegetable bamboo shoots". "Innocence Heirloom Picture" is a painting of four cabbages of different sizes and shades. The cabbage has clear outlines , clean, sturdy, fresh, watery, with an earthy taste, the picture is full of pastoral style, and the ordinary cabbage also carries the painter's ideal of innocence.
Zhang Daqian's long scroll "Huashan Cloud and Sea Map" was given to Bai Yongji, a famous chef in Peiping at that time.
Bai Yongji is both a famous chef and a collector, known as "a generation of Confucian chefs".
The restaurant run by Bai Yongji, called Chunhua Building, is located in the east of Wudaomiao Road outside Hepingmen, near Hufang Bridge in Xicheng District, Beijing. It was a place where cultural celebrities gathered at that time.
Hu Shi, Qian Xuantong, Hu Peiheng, Wu Jingting and others often come and go here.
At that time, there was still a saying that "you can't draw Zhang Daqian, but you can't eat Bai Yongji".
Based on the common love of art and food, Zhang Daqian and Bai Yongji have a deep friendship.
Zhang Daqian is also a frequent visitor of Chunhua Building, and he often entertains friends at Chunhua Building. "Huashan Cloud and Sea Map" is the testimony of Zhang Daqian and Bai Yongji's friendship.
In his later years, Zhang Daqian also entertained Zhang Xueliang and his wife.
In preparation for this banquet, Zhang Daqian walked to the table where he usually painted. Instead of painting, he wrote down a menu with his pen. All his specialty dishes were: dried scallops and duck feet, steamed beef with noodles, and roasted spring onions. ginseng etc.
Zhang Daqian wrote most of the paper in one breath.
This menu was taken back by Zhang Xueliang, carefully framed, and deliberately left blank at the back.
In the second year, Zhang Xueliang invited Zhang Daqian to write an inscription on it, and Zhang Daqian painted cabbage, radish, and spinach on it, with the inscription "Glorious and Beautiful".
The cookbook "Daqian Jushi Academy" written by Zhang Daqian is not only a record of his favorite seventeen home-cooked dishes, but also a beautiful cursive calligraphy work.
Zhang Daqian's works reveal his love for life and food.
During his sketching in Dunhuang, Zhang Daqian also invented many new dishes using local ingredients.
On a menu left by Zhang Daqian, there are many dishes, one of which is "Braised Lamb with Fresh Mushrooms".
Dunhuang is located in the desert, and fresh ingredients are quite scarce. Where do fresh mushrooms come from?
It turns out that Zhang Daqian found wild mushrooms growing near his residence, which can be picked every July.
Before he left, he drew a blueprint and gave it to Dunhuang. The staff regarded it as a treasure. The picking route, picking time, and the taste of wild mushrooms were marked in detail on it.
In Zhang Daqian's eyes, food and art cannot be separated.
As the painter himself said, a real chef is an artist just like a painter.
Zhang Daqian uses his paintings to show everyday things, and to present the simple beauty of what people see, hear, eat, and eat.
This may be the reason why his works deeply moved the viewers.
Zhang Daqian's creative experience enlightens us that the realm of food and art are interlinked.
The realm of traditional Chinese painting art is often inseparable from the daily use of the common people.
Painters not only get inspiration from the food experience, but also often achieve their artistic creation from the food experience.
The painter's experience of food and sensitivity to taste are also their insight into life.
These works related to taste constitute a unique category in Chinese painting, among which the classic works cast the unique aesthetic dimension of Chinese national painting art.
(Author: Chen Hongyu, a researcher at the Capital Cultural Development Research Center)